Continually providing your followers, fans, and brand loyalists with new content is crucial to the success of an online marketing, or social media marketing, campaign. You’ll need new tweets, videos, blogs, status updates, and every other kind of information conveyed online at nearly a daily rate!

Here are 10 ideas that nearly any brand can use on Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, and anywhere else!

1. Check your own mail

Your sent mail folder is literally where you send shareable content from. This is especially true for those with big email subscriber lists. Going through there to see what you’ve sent, and checking to see your feedback on that content, can help you find ideas that you had consigned to your mailbox.

Is there a sales process in there that you can turn into a blog post? A fun stat that you can tweet out? A product feature that would work better as a YouTube video? See what you can share from your mail and present it through a different content platform.

For bonus points, let people know that this information was taken from an email sent to subscribers and prompt them to sign up!

2. Read your replies and comments often

When you have an active community on Facebook and Twitter, they’re going to practically tell you what they want from you content wise. Some will outright say “Can we get a product demonstration on this?” While others will be a bit more intuitive.

For example, say that one post received a whole lot more comments than another. This is your fans telling you on masse what they’re interested in. Listen and create content around those topics.

3. Start a debate

I’m not talking about a debate over politics or religion. I’m talking about easy debates that people will argue about forever in a friendly manner. Charmin, the toilet paper manufacturer, does this all the time. The best example is their “Over or Under” posts on Twitter about how to hang the toilet paper.

Other things along these lines would be battle of the sexes type content, commentary on fashion, or advice on chivalry. Gently push an idea along these lines out, and ask for your fans’ feedback. If things get heated, take note and maybe back off that topic in the future, or on other platforms!

https://twitter.com/Charmin/status/511984121430962176

4. Send out your best reviews

The goal of any social media account is to share news, not just promote their own content. To help you get your brand out there, while not looking overly promotional, you can tweet out reviews and positive comments about your company that you find online.

We have found good reviews about our company, tweeted them out, and had the original content creator give us more retweets, mentions, and shares. Pampered Chef would be wise to track down this review, share it, and mention the person who created it:

https://twitter.com/JenniRyan/status/542994607932710912

5. Stay on top of the news

This comes with a warning similar to the “Pop content” discussion above. Current news plays out constantly on Twitter, and you can jump in on some of it to have your message spread in the moment.

What you can’t do is participate in blatant ‘news-jacking’ where you offer an opinion on something which is big in the news, but completely off-brand for you. Your car rental company can’t comment on the problem in the Middle East. Your car rental company could, however, very easily comment on the latest cars debuting at the Detroit Auto Show.

6. “The Top NUMBER BLANKS of YEAR”

Starting at around the end of every October, and going on until January, you’ll see lots of “Top 5 Things in our industry for this year!” type lists.

These types of yearly summaries are not only very shareable, but they’re also a good opportunity to show your expertise in your field. Don’t just fire them off with minimal content, take some time to make reasoned arguments around why you have included them.

7. Giveaways and contests rule - but read the rules!

Who doesn’t love a giveaway or contest online that’s free to enter? Even better, who doesn’t like sending that out to their friends and followers to score some ‘good friend’ points? This easy to send out piece of value added marketing is appropriate on any social channel.

Be sure to read their terms of service before proceeding. Facebook is notorious for their restrictions on contests and you don’t want to have your account locked over this.

Pinterest is a bit looser with their restriction. Here’s an example:

IMAGE: PINTEREST

8. Focus on the good - even when hard times hit

Flame wars, Internet arguments, and talking to trolls are the things best left to kids. No company has ever benefited from starting an argument with a competitor or customer online, and they haven’t ever seen any good come their way when they spread negative information.

People go online to escape the negative outlook of the 24 hour news cycle on TV. Why do you think cat memes are so popular? People want to escape, to feel better, and you need to provide them with that content if you want it shared. Create a LOLCAT meme, or just share a funny story about your business, and spread those good feelings around.

9. Follow my example: Create a list!

Creating a list, such as the one you’re reading right now, about a whole bunch of things you’ve researched, is a sure way to get a few shares and some eyeballs. Need proof? Well, you’re here right now, so...

You’ll need to have more fun than “Here are 10 Reasons to Buy our Products” type content. Instead of that you can try “Here are 10 Unusual Uses for our Products.” Your products are still featured, but you can have a lot more fun with the list.

There’s even a website which makes its living off content like this; it’s called Buzzfeed, and people love wasting time on that site! Stop by there for some inspiration if you need it.

10. Just have a rant and get it out

As I said above, don’t attack other businesses or individuals, but feel free to rant and rave on about a topic that you’re passionate about. More than anything, people online respond to passion and to people who give a damn.

You can use that to your advantage because this applies to you - you are passionate about your industry and what goes on in it. Let your fans know how you feel and watch them respond!

Author bio:

Matthew Yeoman is a social media writer and analyst for the Devumi Social Signals and Marketing blog. You can stop on by the blog to learn about the latest tips and tricks in the social media marketing world. If you need your updates daily, check out what the Devumi Gorilla has to say on Twitter!